This specification establishes the general requirements common to wrought copper and copper alloy wires. The materials for manufacture shall be a cast bar, billet, rod, or other form of such purity and soundness as to be suitable for processing by hot working, cold working, and subsequent annealing to produce finished products that meet the specified temper properties and have a uniform wrought structure. Products shall be sampled and prepared, then tested accordingly to examine their conformance to dimensional (diameter, thickness, specific and stock lengths, width, straightness, and edge contour), mechanical (tensile, yield and bend strengths, elongation, and Rockwell hardness), electrical (resistivity and conductivity), chemical composition, and grain size requirements. In the event of conflict between this specification and the individual casting product specifications, the requirements of the casting specification shall take precedence.

1.1 This specification establishes requirements common to wrought copper and copper alloy wire and shall apply to Specifications B 16/B 16M, B 99/B 99M, B 134/B 134M, B 159/B 159M, B 197/B 197M, B 206/B 206M, B 272, B 301/B 301M and B 453/B 453M to the extent referenced therein.

1.2 The chemical composition, physical and mechanical properties, and all other requirements not included in this specification shall be prescribed in the product specification.

1.3 The following safety hazard caveat pertains only to the test methods described in this specification.

1.3.1 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and to determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.4 UnitsValues stated in either SI units or inch-pound units are to be regarded separately as standard. Within the text, SI units are shown in brackets. The values stated in each system may not be exact equivalents; therefore, each system shall be used independently of the other. Combining values from the two systems may result in non-conformance with the standard.